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Thursday, 18 January 2018

Excavations around Keros show the technological prowess of Bronze Age Greeks

Researchers found the remains of terraced walls and giant gleaming structures

The structures were built using 1,000 tons of stone dug up six miles away

Together they turned a tiny islet near Keros into a single, massive monument

A remote Greek island known as the 'world's oldest maritime sanctuary' was once covered in complex monuments built using stone dug up six miles (10 km) away.

Excavations around the island of Keros have revealed the technological prowess of the small group of Greeks who lived there 4,500 years ago.

Researchers found the remains of massive terraced walls and giant gleaming structures on a tiny islet that was once attached to Keros.

The structures were built using 1,000 tons of stone, turning the headland, which measures just 500 ft (150 m) across, into a single, giant monument.

The researchers say the remains make the island one of the most impressive archaeological sites of the Aegean Sea during the Early Bronze Age.

A remote Greek island known as the 'world's oldest maritime sanctuary' was once covered in complex monuments built using stone dug up six miles (10 km) away. Pictured is the team as they work on excavations at the site on Keros. This islet was once covered in stone monuments

Researchers at the University of Cambridge studied the settlement of Dhaskalio, an islet that was once part of a known prehistoric sanctuary at Keros.

They say the archaeological remains show the remote region to be a more imposing and densely occupied series of structures than was previously believed.

Until recently, the island of Keros, located in the Cyclades, south of the island of Naxos, was known for ritual activities dating 4,500 years ago involving broken marble figurines.

The island has previously been listed by Cambridge researchers as the 'world's oldest maritime sanctuary'.

Now new excavations show that the headland of Dhaskalio, which was once attached to Keros but is now a tiny islet because of sea level rise, was almost entirely covered by remarkable monuments.

The constructions, which once sat close to the sanctuary at Keros, were built using stone brought painstakingly from Naxos, six miles (10 km) away.

Study coauthor Professor Colin Renfrew suggested the islet, with its narrow causeway to the main island, 'may have become a focus because it formed the best natural harbour on Keros, and had an excellent view of the north, south and west Aegean'.

The headland was naturally shaped like a pyramid, and the skilled builders of Dhaskalio enhanced this shape by creating a series of massive terrace walls

These made it look more like a stepped pyramid.

On the flat surfaces formed by the terraces, the builders used stone imported from Naxos to construct impressive, gleaming structures.

The research team calculated that more than 1000 tons of stone were imported, and that almost every possible space on the island was built on.

While excavating an impressive staircase in the lower terraces (pictured), archaeologists sophisticated systems of drainage under the stairs and nearby walls, signalling that the architecture carefully planned in advance

New excavations have found two metalworking workshops, full of metalworking debris and related objects. In one of these rooms a lead axe was found, with a mould used for making copper daggers, along with dozens of ceramic fragments covered in copper spills.Until recently, the island of Keros, located in the Cyclades, south of the island of Naxos, was known for ritual activities dating 4,500 years ago involving broken marble figurines (pictured)

This gave the impression of a single large monument jutting out of the sea.

The complex is the largest known in the Cyclades at the time.

While excavating an impressive staircase in the lower terraces, archaeologists began to see the technical sophistication of this civilisation.

Underneath the stairs and within the walls they discovered sophisticated systems of drainage, signalling that the architecture was carefully planned in advance.

Tests are now underway to discover whether the drains were for managing clean water or sewage.

Excavations at the site have also showed that the inhabitants of Dhaskalio were proficient metalworkers.

Within the buildings of Dhaskalio, the melting of metals and casting of objects were commonplace, with all materials imported from other nearby islands.

The new excavations have found two metalworking workshops, full of metalworking debris and related objects.

New excavations show that the headland of Dhaskalio (pictured), which was once attached to Keros but is now a tiny islet because of sea level rise, was almost entirely covered by remarkable monuments

Within the buildings of Dhaskalio, the melting of metals and casting of objects were commonplace, with all materials imported from other nearby islands. Buildings also contained small pits (pictured) for grain or other produceResearchers found the remains of massive terraced walls (pictured) and giant gleaming structures on a tiny islet that was once attached to Keros

he structures were built using 1,000 tons of stone, turning the headland, which measures just 500 ft (150 m) across, into a single, giant monument

In one of these rooms a lead axe was found, with a mould used for making copper daggers, along with dozens of ceramic fragments covered in copper spills.

In another room, the top of an intact clay oven was found, indicating another metalworking area, which will be excavated next year.

Study coauthor Dr Michael Boyd said: 'At a time when access to raw materials and skills was very limited, metalworking expertise seems to have been very much concentrated at Dhaskalio.

'This gives us a clear insight into social change at Dhaskalio, from the earlier days where activities were centred on ritual practices in the sanctuary to the growing power of Dhaskalio itself in its middle years.'

The researchers say the find, including the remains of walls and a staircase pictured, make the island one of the most impressive archaeological sites of the Aegean Sea during the Early Bronze Age

Researchers at the University of Cambridge studied the settlement of Dhaskalio, an islet that was once part of a known prehistoric sanctuary at Keros